Railways accidents

Citation

(2004), "Railways accidents", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 13 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2004.07313aac.004

Railways accidents

2 July 2003 – Warangal, India

At least ten passengers are feared killed after two bogies of the Hyderabad-bound Golconda Express derailed in Warangal city this morning. The train was coming to Hyderabad from Vijayawada, when the mishap took place around 10.00hrs. The train driver reportedly lost control over the engine near Chintapalli railway station and could not stop at Warangal railway station. The engine and first two bogies of the train fell down from a railway overbridge a few hundred metres away from the station. The train driver, and a couple of persons travelling in an auto rickshaw beneath the bridge are feared to have been killed in the accident. Railway officials have rushed medical teams to the accident site. Dozens of other passengers have reportedly been injured in the incident.

2 July 2003 – Railway Minister Nitish Kumar today announced an inquiry by the Commissioner, Railway Safety (South), into the train accident in Warangal in which at least 20 people were killed. Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya, Railway Board chairman and general manager of South Central Railway, were rushing to the accident site, Kumar said. Asked about the ex-gratia payment to the victims' families, Kumar said that it would be announced by Dattatreya at Warangal. Two bogies of Hyderabad-bound Golconda Express derailed and fell from a rail over-bridge, hitting two auto rickshaws near Warangal town this morning, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 15.

3 July 2003 – Rescue workers cutting through the mangled passenger cars of a train that plunged off a bridge in southern India found four more bodies today, raising the death toll from the accident to 22. The train's brakes reportedly failed as it attempted to stop yesterday at the Warangal station in Andhra Pradesh state. The engine and two adjoining cars subsequently rolled off the bridge. The dead included at least 12 who had been on a busy road below. Two bodies were found early today after the train's engine was lifted by a crane, said Nalin Prabhat, a police superintendent in Warangal, 150km north of the state capital, Hyderabad. Two more bodies were found by workers using blow torches to cut through one of the toppled passenger cars. Six South Central Railways officials were suspended pending an inquiry by the Railroad Safety Commissioner, said Stanley Babu, a railroad official. A brake failure on the train caused the accident, said Bandaru Dattatreya, India's junior minister for railways. The train overturned when it reached the bridge, a few metres from the station, Prabhat said. Sammaiah, the assistant driver of the engine, said he realised the brakes had failed when the train was only 3km from the station.